camp i was kinda feelin seasick | intro

[parsnippaw]

It's a dreadful day outside, scorching hot with storm clouds in the distance. The sun bore no mercy to those within the moor and heated the earth to an almost unbearable temperature, but surely the coming storm will bring relief. Parsnipkit really doesn't like the heat, cause it does make his pelt prickle uncomfortably with the damp paw-prints he leaves behind. Having a long coat these days sure is terrible, he thinks! Not that he ever had shorter fur... He only truly likes the sun when theres a nice breeze out and he can flip on to his back to provide a good mixture between being warm and being cool.

Now, though, he sits and waits at the mouth of the nursery, poking his head out from under the gorse bush. He wants to go out to play but its too hot... Maybe he could find another kitten to play with? But Scorchstreak is just a little bit scary and that means her children are too. He blinks. Once, twice, before he spots a bug. Potential play partner? Or maybe it's resting cause its feeling sluggish too. No worries! Parsnip springs forwards with a jump. A loud crunch resounds in his ears and he pulls back, lifting a paw. Unfortunate... Bug friend down. "Where can I find more bugs?" he asks to everyone and no one in particular. More bugs, he'll make an army of them! Big and strong just like Windclan.​

"speech"​

 

[SOOTSTAR]

SOOTSTAR ♀​

Sootstar’s back is turned and she faces the gorse wall. Her paws are moving rhythmically, it appears she’s trying to reinforce this section. Parsnipkit’s inquiry causes her to turn her head, she points her nose to a tunnel entrance. ”Try over there in the dirt.” Worms and other small bugs could always be found scurrying there if you looked hard enough. With that her head is turned again, focusing on work.

 

[SCORCHSTORM]

TAGS — Scorchkit's course, rough pelt is serviceable for keeping the heat out. Or, maybe, for letting the wind in. She feels each breeze more vividly than her longhaired clanmates, it seems. But for that she's grateful; after all, they're WindClanners. The gales that dance along their moors are each a blessing-- though she wrinkles her nose at the thought of the intense gusts that had stormed over their camp not long ago, tossing trash into their nests and forcing her back into the nursery so soon after she'd emerged. Not to mention she'd lost her race with Hollypaw... it had been humiliating! But Scorchkit is more confident now, white-dipped paws accustomed to the heather underfoot, wide shoulders accustomed to standing steadfast through each breeze that struck her.

It's why the sun doesn't bother her as much as it seems to bother Parsnipkit. She is inspecting the gorse wall that Sootstar works on when Parsnipkit inquires for more bugs to play with. Her bicolored gaze assesses the tom for a moment before flicking back to the blue smoke molly. Why would Parsnipkit want to play with bugs when Sootstar had ordered them to get rid of the pests not long ago? White brows crease mildly over her owlish gaze, but it seems that her leader's feud with the copper-carapaced creatures has ceased. Still, Scorchkit's first instinct is not to find a playmate among invertebrates.

With a lasting glance at Sootstar's work (and a lingering question as to whether she would get stuck reinforcing nursery walls as a warrior), Scorchkit gets to her paws and points her nose definitively at Parsnipkit. "I'll help," she offers, though perhaps she and Parsnipkit have different ideas about the objective of this mission. Scorchkit is eager to find targets to brush up on her bug-killing skills, but it seems that her denmate is looking for companionship. She supposes she can provide it. Besides, she'd never miss a chance to look in the tunnel mouths.

Whiskers twitch as she peers into the hole, squinting as she tries to make out insectoid figures fit for a crushing. Finally, she sees one-- a centipede, she thinks --and a white-dipped paw whips towards it, smashing it agains the wall of the opening. When she pulls her paw back, she is pleased to find it dead against her pink paw pads. She turns the stain to Parsnipkit, as if to show him what a job well done looks like. "Got one."​

​

 

[LUCKYPAW]

If faced with the choice between heat and the powerful winds that had previously swept through camp, Luckykit would choose the heat a hundred times over. Sure, it made his pelt prickle uncomfortably, slowing down his movements and his thoughts, but at least the heat couldn't send his paws out from beneath him, invisible forces completely bowling him over. Heat is nothing new - granted, the sun is beating down particularly strong today, but hiding in the shadows is enough to keep his discomfort to a minimum. What's really caught his interest is the growing storm clouds off in the distance; even from here, the roiling dark masses hold him captive, though Luckykit can't say whether or not he's locked his intense gaze on them out of idle curiosity or something darker and more troubling. Of course, they'd had rain before, and even some storms, but this is the first time that he's had a chance to actually sit and watch the storm approach, and it makes him feel small and vulnerable. Once it hit, there would be nothing to do but wait it out, hiding in the nursery if it got too bad, and the waiting for the inevitable frustrates him more than anything else. Maybe it's better in the tunnels - after all, you'd never have to see it coming down there.

Oblivious to Parsnipkit's nearby plight, he only tears his gaze away from the clouds when he hears the question of finding bugs. Sootstar's quick to respond, motioning toward a nearby tunnel, but Luckykit finds the initial question more interesting. "Why would you wanna...find more bugs?" he asks, nose wrinkling just at the thought. Nothing good could come from bugs, whether they be the kind that attacked Rumblekit or the ones that had invaded Sootstar's den. Still, Scorchkit engages, heading over to the aforementioned tunnel, and he can't help but follow after, admittedly staying a far enough distance back that he'd be safe from any stray bugs. As his sister swipes at one, crushing it against the wall, he tentatively steps forward, both to examine her kill and to peer deeper into the tunnel's depths. "Nice," he says plainly, looking from Scorchkit's paw back to Parsnipkit. "You gonna come get 'em, too?" Luckykit invites with a wave of his tail. Not that he had any plans to wrangle any bugs - no, he'd much prefer to keep his paws clean from insects today, thank you very much. Besides, Scorchkit's much better at it than he is, a nagging thought tells him, though he's not sure why the idea bothers him slightly.
​

[ PENNED BY HIJINKS ]​

 

[SUNSTAR]

He does not find himself eager for the storm, though this weather is just as intolerable. In his home, so many moons ago, their storms came in sweeps of white that left paws sinking belly-deep to the mountains of snow. Even now he misses the cold. It is far better than this heat, particularly when he is so enveloped in his work. Nearby Sootstar, the lead warrior's paws follow her motions. He is slower with his work, yet no less careful in his result. In and out, in and out again they weave. Their leader only glances their way, but Sunstride is more easily distracted. He ceases his work entirely to round upon the three, curiosity bright upon his gaze. Though he's no child himself, and certainly not small enough to fit among the tunnels, he observes them keenly. "Do not wander far," he instructs lightly.

None of them are his own, yet WindClan is a place of peace. They are all to take pride in the youth of the clan. Particularly the two that Scorchstreak and Badgermoon claim. Parsnipkit seems capable and curious, yet he cannot pretend that the deputy's litter does not remind him of his own upbringing some. He chuckles some, and glances back to Sootstar. "Even remembering the time of my own kithood, I cannot understand the youthful obsession with bugs."

＞ˏˋ〘  OOC NOTES ╱ REFERENCE ╱ 07.10.2023 𝘏𝘈𝘕𝘋𝘚𝘖𝘔𝘌 𝘈𝘚 𝘓𝘐𝘍𝘌 𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘗𝘖𝘐𝘚𝘖𝘕 〙ˊˎ＜

• ooc: —

• 

• SUNSTRIDE. named for his coloration and his bold chasing of fate.
  —— cis male, he - him. approx. 40 moons old. lead warrior of windclan + former rogue.
  —— gay, monogamous. mate to wolfsong from 07.05.2023.  npc x npc, no larger family.
  —— has recently regained some of his earlier lightness, but maintains his steady facade.
  
  sunstride is broad and bold– a creature standing above most of windclan, though not a beast beyond its borders, with fur that flames red and deepens to a burnt amber with every whorl and stripe. his eyes, in comparison, are a pale summer's blue, still as bold as the rest of him.

• "speech"

​

 

[FROSTPAW.]

Very much the opposite of Luckykit in this, Frostkit found this heat more unbearable than most anything else. Perhaps due to the fact that he had inherited his father's dark coloration, or because he is small enough that every little bit of sunshine is concentrated in him until he's about to combust (that is probably not how the science of this worked, yet Frostkit did not doubt for a second that the feeling of it was true), but whatever it is has him feeling miserable. And so it should come as no surprise that he was already near the tunnel entrance when the others came to approach. The dirt here is cooler, and the mouth has just enough shade to keep him sheltered without technically being in the tunnels. Though Frostkit may skirt the rules at times, he most certainly does not break them. He takes himself far too seriously for that.

"Why are you killing them?" he asks from where he is perched, on a small mound of soft, damp earth. It is nearly a silly picture, seeing how he chooses the vantage point even as pathetic and useless as it may be. He looks nearly like a neat little rock curled atop it. "You'll have to clean it up later, and won't it be gross?" His nose wrinkles some, though it is nonconfrontational in nature. All he does is remain where he rests, staring at the remnants of the bug.

＞ˏˋ〘  OOC NOTES REFERENCE 06.03.2023 〙ˊˎ＜

• ooc: yes i'm putting two of my characters in this thread shhhhhh

• 

• frostkit. named for his coloration, and in memory of tigerfrost.
  —— amab nonbinary, he - him - his; will soon add they - them. kit of windclan.
  —— badgermoon x scorchstreak. sibling to rumblekit, luckykit, and scorchkit.
  
  frostkit is remarkably average, all things considered. he is of the expected size and shape, if perhaps a little blockier with his father's influence. his black and white pelt is short and scruffy, and his eyes are the expected kitten blue, if a shade lighter than what is typical.

• "speech"

​

 

[Badgermoon]

Sunstride had the right of it: what was it with kits and bugs? It was beyond Badgermoon's understanding, truth be told, but he was too amused by the kits' chatter to continue working on the gorse wall with Sootstar and the lead warrior. The broad tomcat turned from his task and moved towards the children, moon-yellow eyes fond as he studied each of his own kits in turn. Parsnipkit, while not his kit, was a denmate of he and Scorchstreak's offspring, and was an essential part of WindClan's future, and so received a look of similar benevolence from Badgermoon, albeit one without the deep fondness he showed for his sons and daughter. "You all must be itching for your first hunting patrols." mused the deputy, bending down and attempting to smooth an errand tuft of fur on Frostkit's head with a few rasps of his sandpaper tongue. He had no answer for why the bug-crushing was occurring, alas.​

 

[parsnippaw]

Theres a voice that tells him to go search in the tunnels. Is he allowed there...? It's a very, very familiar voice, one he cannot place his paw on... Dual-toned eyes glance around before landing upon the moorland queen, or um, thats what some of the big cats called her. Parsnipkit just knew her as Sootstar, the leader of Windclan. She commanded all the cats and he remembered seeing her stand upon the big rock during meetings, slightly jealous that she got to look off of it. "Okay!" he finally nods, dipping his head in a jerky motion. "Thank you." he replies after, cause how could he forget his manners? Uhhh, dad always said to be kind, or maybe... Thats what he said mom said? Parsnip doesn't quite remember. If Sootstar said he could go in the tunnel then he could.

Out of the corner of his sight as he ambles towards the tunnel, albeit very slowly, he catches a flare-streaked pelt. The girl seems to be staring down Sootstar and he stares down at her. They have very, very different hues in red-colored pelts he realizes. Shes like, uhm, uhm... He has no comparisons for her fur. She just reminds him of the sun, and while he doesn't like the sun, shes a little better company than the fire above. "Okay." he responds simply to her offer, nodding again, cheek tufts bobbing with the effort it took.

The red cameo doesn't move from his spot he stopped at first though, jerked out of his thoughts as she lifts up a paw to show him something. He's trotting over to look before he smiles. "Yeahhh! I wanna do that too... Let me know if you see a beetle or a flying bug, they make big crunches." Luckykit comes out of nowhere and scares him, making him jump slightly, but it turns out Lucky had been there the whole time. Nice, her brother muses and then extends an invite. Well, duh! They didn't call him the bug-crusher champion for nothing. If that was even a thing. "... Do you wanna play with us, Luckykit?" he asks when he notices that Luckykit isn't moving to come play. Scorchstreak may be scary but maybe he wrongfully judged her kits as being scary too, cause these other kittens are cool.

Theres movement slightly further in the tunnel and Parsnipkit aims to slightly nudge Scorchkit to get her attention, pointing a paw down. Flutter of wings in the glint of light, a flying bug just like he said. "Big bug! Imma get it." he gasps in a drawl before Sunstride tells them to be careful, or uh, maybe he said not to wander? "We'll be very careful. I'm the careful-est." he confirms back, hopping in his place. He slightly crawls forwards and jumps, lands with an oof but theres a satisfying crunch once more. Hah! Call him the bug terminator, he thinks him and Scorchkit make a good team.

"Why not?" he blinks in surprise as he comes back, tilting his head at Frostkit. Are all of Scorchkits siblings here? "Cleaning isnt bad. You just go wipe, wipe, wipe, and boom, your paws are clean." he demonstrates it, swiping his paws at the sandy earth below once more. And now Scorchkits dad is here. His eyes slightly squint because NOW Parsnipkit finds himself slightly jealous. Wheres his dad? Tumbleknot should be around somewhere... "Yeah. Me and Scorchkit and uh, Luckykit and Frostkit, we're all gonna go hunting and be the bestest." cause Parsnipkit could care less about competition. Another buzz reaches his ears and he turned to Scorchkit, tilting his head back and forth to determine which direction its coming from. "Nother' bug."​

"speech"​